New chair opinions wanted

jjgreenwood · 29 May 2016 at 18:44

Well my chair I've been using for the last few years is looking a bit worse for wear. Its an operator style chair I bought off amazon in a sale for a couple of hundred quid with a mesh type back and a standard foam type seat. Its been alright but the market looks to have changed significantly in the 6 or 7 years since I last needed to replace my chair so I'm looking for opinions on what people think I should replace it with.

I use my computer almost exclusively for leisure and normally spend a couple or more hours a day browsing the web, playing games and occasionally watching films, editing photos or doing a bit of typing. As such I don't really need an office type chair but have found the one I've got comfortable for the use required. I don't mind spending money to get something decent, but equally given the use don't want to go over the top for something designed for someone working for 12 hours a day.

I'm curious about the gaming chairs on sale. I quite like the look at a black and white dxracer king chair for about £300ish I've seen on the site. Reading reviews around the net these seem to be well liked. The recently released noble chairs also look similar but also come in real leather for another £100, not sure if this is worth the extra or not. The small room I have can get quite warm when gaming due to the heat coming out of the PC so I'm not sure how well either seat would do in such a situation. Do any owners of these seats get hot after a period of time - much like a car seat?

Another option is a Herman Miller seat of some description. These are sold locally to me nearly new for between £330-£470 depending on whether its a mirra or an aeron and the spec of it. Is it a bit too office for a casual chair or would it be the best value for the use. I don't know and am a bit confused. The gaming chair thing looks comfortable but I don't know if the office type thing I've been using is better and the gaming branding thing is just a bit of an excuse to push the price up.

What have you used/are using and have you experienced these types of chair and what do you think is best?

jjgreenwood · 30 May 2016 at 12:24

Thanks, I think I do have to decide the sort of thing I want to go for. As with all these things it seems to generate more questions than answers. The more I consider things the more I'm tempted to redo the entire room which makes me tempted to bin off the desk entirely and maybe go for an obutto type setup which might be good for future vr type experiences. The downside to this is it is much less casual, which ironically is how I use my setup mainly so I am probably looking at it and thinking "that looks cool" without actually thinking through the use.

I'm fairly average in build and height being 5' 11, thought the king or something similar just because I don't really want the seat to hug me in due to my casual type use. I've also looked at maxnomic and also seen a Jefferson chair elsewhere which also seems very comfortable. I see ekornes also do an office chair but that is in yet another price bracket and although I have one of their chairs in the living room its hard to see the value in the office.

I suspect a fresh lick of paint, a bit of new carpet and then a wooden worktop on top of alex units like many use in the case thread seems to be the best option. Just need to decide on a good quality, probably padded chair to go with it.

jjgreenwood · 30 May 2016 at 17:41

I wouldn't mind spending £900 on a chair if it was much better than those that were cheaper. My stressless chair in my living room cost that but I couldn't find anything of the same quality and style for any less.

My office is a place pretty much only me will ever see though so style is a bit more open as I can design the room around the chair and desk. I suspect a stressless office chair would be overkill and I also suspect the Herman millar is designed for work rather than relaxing which is why I'm looking at other options. If my perception is wrong then I'm happy to think again. I have found the Herman miller chairs not overly comfortable when trying them in John Lewis but I suspect you need to play with the settings a lot and I have no idea how they work.

jjgreenwood · 1 Jun 2016 at 15:50

C64 said:
if you have a good budget I say a lazyboy / armchair style thick cushioned computer chair would be best.All these thin padded chairs hurt no matter what.

Got a link for one?

jjgreenwood · 3 Jun 2016 at 23:03

C64 said:
just any swivel armchair with recline

Every computer chair ive ever owned has been uncomfortable soon as the padding wears a bit

I grant you hard to find height adjustable ones, this kind of thing I am thinking of

I could make it work if I set the desk high enough but I still can't find anything like that for sale in the UK outside of a stressless showroom.

I suspect this is why the gaming chair has been the success it has been.